This is the full novel from the short story I reviewed; The Hustler. So, for the summary, head over there to read it.
While the premise and the short story were interesting and entertaining, the novel drags itself though the remainder of the story at a snail’s pace. In this magical world in which condoms are not needed and jail is not a threat (as per the author’s introduction), I had a lot of trouble justifying why this book is so long. There is all this time devoted to how much of an asshole Will is but I didn’t get that about him at all. Clearly self-depreciating, thoughtless perhaps, he consumes a troubling amount of alcohol, but I have seen “asshole” and he doesn’t quite qualify. We also get pages and PAGES of shopping for food and cooking it. Enough that I feel it should have been integral to the plot but it’s just minutia. The lulls in the story felt torturous and only kinda worth the overall payoff. Written well but WAY too long. 3 out of 5.
